Surprise?
by DceptiveNocence
Summary: What happens when Hermione’s boss offers her a free trip to a masquerade? Well, Draco, for one thing.


Title: Surprise?

Author: DceptiveNocence

Disclaimer: First of all, JK owns the Harry Potter universe, not me (dang), I only play with her characters before returning them (maybe slightly more so messed up, but is that really so wrong? Hehe).

Rating: R

Pairing: Draco/Hermione

Summary: What happens when Hermione's boss offers her a free trip to a masquerade? Well, Draco, for one thing.

* * *

"Hermione?" 

"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Beech?" Hermione responded looking up from the paperwork on her desk.

Mrs. Beech shut the door to Hermione's office and walked in before sitting in one of the chairs opposite her employee. "You work entirely too hard…you deserve some time off."

"But –"

"Let me finish," she said giving her a stern look.

"Yes, ma'am."

"As I was saying, you deserve to take some time off. The Halloween Masquerade I attend each year, you know the one I speak of?"

"I am aware of it, yes, ma'am." Hermione knew that Mrs. Beech took a week off each year attend a masquerade, often held in some exotic location, but knew little else of it.

"As usual, I got two tickets, only to find my husband is unavailable to attend this year, some kind of conference. I didn't want the ticket to go to waste, so I thought about what I should do. Then, lo and behold, I walk by and see you, bent over your desk and busy as a bee, as always. So I decided, 'who needs this more than Hermione? She hasn't taken a holiday in years.' Now, I am here offering you not just a holiday, which you desperately need, but a free trip, all expenses paid to a lovely party…Who knows," she said with a wicked smile, "maybe you'll meet a man to take your mind off of work. We leave tomorrow at noon. Meet me here just outside the building and we'll Apparate. Take the rest of the day and the morning off to get ready." Mrs. Beech stood up and prepared to depart. "I'll see you noon tomorrow, Hermione," she said as she walked out of the office.

Hermione's mind started buzzing wildly. She couldn't take time off! She had work to do! What would they do without her for an entire week?!

"Hermione, I thought I told you to go home and get ready," Mrs. Beech said from her place in Hermione's door. "Oh, and by the way, don't worry about a costume, we'll go shopping when we get there." She gave a smile and walked away, leaving Hermione alone again. Hermione sighed and stood up. When Mrs. Beech made up her mind there was no changing it, and she had definitely made up her mind. Once she gathered her things, Hermione locked her office and Apparated to her flat in Hogsmeade. Hermione had been working at Mugglves, an agency that had been established five years previous, the year she graduated from Hogwarts and the year that Voldemort had been killed in fact, which promoted the relations of house elves and Muggles with wizards, located near her childhood home in London.

Unlike the Muggles relations office in the Ministry of Magic, Mugglves actually interacted with the objects of their attention, which is what made Hermione fall in love with it in the first place. In the five years that Hermione had been working there, she could only remember taking three days off, and that had been within the first year because of her mother's death. Everyone knew she worked much too hard, but no one dared say anything, as the last person who did was lucky to get away alive; no one, that is, until Mrs. Beech approached her. Hermione had to admit, she did need a break…and she certainly deserved it. With this thought, she sat her things on the coffee table in her living room and headed to her bedroom. Once there, she used her wand to pull out her luggage and an array of clothes. When she had quite a few choices laid out, she decided which outfits to take and quickly packed them with a wave of her wand. She waved her wand again and the remainders of her clothes were back in her closet. She finally checked her watch to see what time it was. 'Time to eat,' is what it read, causing Hermione to realize how hungry she was. She made her way to the kitchen and quickly fixed herself some food. Soon after she nearly fell asleep in her plate, she decided to make it an early night. She cleaned the kitchen before going to her bedroom, changing into her nightclothes, getting into bed, and promptly falling asleep.

The next morning, Hermione finished gathering her things, not stopping until 11:30. At 11:45, Hermione grabbed her things and Apparated outside of the Mugglves building.

"Hermione, good morning," Mrs. Beech said happily.

"Good morning, Mrs. Beech," Hermione replied.

"Hermione, let me tell you one important thing before we go…As long as we're not at work, I'm your friend, not your boss. Call me Lara, please."

"Yes, M…er, Lara."

"Thank you. Ready to go?"

"I'm all set."

"I'll see you there, then," she told Hermione before disappearing with a pop. Hermione did much the same thing, seeing Lara as soon as she arrived at her destination. They had Apparated to what seemed to be a very large, centuries-old house.

"This way, Hermione," Lara told her leading her to a room. "This is your room. Mine is just next door. I'm going to set down my things, then we can go to find our costumes."

As Lara went next door, Hermione sat her things down and pulled out some Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts and slid them into her cloak pocket.

"Ready?" Lara asked from her place in Hermione's door.

"Yes, I'm coming."

"There's this lovely little place in America where I usually get my costumes for the masquerade. Are you up to a little inter-continental Apparating?"

"Sure, it's been awhile since I was last over there."

"Okay, it's in Virginia. The shop is called The Masked Marauder."

"Okay, I'll see you there."

They promptly Disapparated, appearing moments later just outside of The Masked Marauder.

"Is there a theme," inquired Hermione, "or is it just whatever strikes our fancy?"

"There's a theme. This year is famous people throughout history. They only require that you follow the theme and wear a mask. I know there are a few places where people get their costumes that don't have a charm on the masks to keep them on, but luckily they only sell pre-charmed masks here, so you won't have to worry about charming it yourself. At midnight all the masks disappear for a big reveal and you finally get to see who is wearing what. It's quite fun to see if you can guess who is who before the unmasking. It will surprise you how wrong you can be."

As Lara finished, she and Hermione walked through the door of The Masked Marauder. Inside were costumes of all colors, shapes, sizes, and varieties, from simple children's costumes to elaborate costumes with three pieces alone just making up the mask.

"Good afternoon, Lara," came a voice from the back of the shop.

"Good afternoon, Pauline."

"Come for your costumes?" Lara nodded and Pauline continued, "I've pulled some things for you and your husband." She hadn't yet noticed that instead of her husband, Hermione was with Lara.

"Actually, Pauline, I forgot to tell you. Robert is not able to attend this year, due to a convention. Instead I brought along one of my employees, who desperately needs a holiday. This is Hermione. Hermione, this is Pauline, she owns The Masked Marauder."

"Nice to meet you," Pauline said stretching her hand out to shake Hermione's.

"The pleasure is all mine," Hermione replied, shaking Pauline's hand.

"Would you like me to pull some things for you? Or would you rather look for yourself?"

"I think I'll look on my own for a bit."

"Okay. Lara, do you want to come see what I have pulled for you?"

"Sure."

Lara and Pauline went behind a curtain and into the back of the little shop, leaving Hermione to her own devices.

Hermione began to look around, many things catching her eye, but it seemed to be hours before she finally decided upon something. She took it back to the dressing room and tried it on. It fit her perfectly, almost as if it were made just for her.

The costume consisted of a red gown, much like the gowns of medieval times, with a white panel in the front, a thin gold rope criss-crossed down the length of the white panel, and gold trim and stitching around the edges. It pushed her bust up slightly, which she liked, as she had always thought her chest was a tad too small. From there, the dress went down accentuating her slim waist before flaring out into the bell-like skirt. On her feet she had red shoes with gold around the openings for her feet, which matched the dress perfectly and oddly reminded her somewhat of Dorothy's ruby slippers. The mask she had chosen covered the area around her eyes and the uppermost part of her nose. It was almost completely the same red as the dress but with a little bit of white just around the eyes, black eyelashes on top of the eyes, and gold trim around the edge of the mask.

"Hermione, you look wonderful," Lara said as she emerged from the back of the shop.

"Thank you. I decided I could go as Guinevere." Lara looked at her blankly. "Muggle thing."

"Oh…No matter how long I work with Muggles I will never know everything. I was going to say you were Genera Gryffindor."

"I didn't think about her, but you do have a point." Hermione gave a laugh. "Well, Genera Gryffindor it is. Did you find anything yet?"

"Yes, I was just about to pay, but I just had to come see if you found anything yet. You just get changed, then we'll go pay for everything and be on our way."

"Okay." Hermione quickly changed back into the blue jeans, "Hogwarts Class of 1998" T-Shirt, and sneakers that she had been wearing earlier. She neatly put the dress back on the hanger and stepped out of the dressing room with the dress over her arm and the mask and shoes in her hand.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready."

"I've paid for mine already. I would have waited, but I want it to be a surprise." They had just reached the checkout counter and Hermione sat the dress, shoes, and mask down. She began to reach into her pocket to pull out some Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts when Lara inquired, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting my money out?"

"Nonsense. I told you this trip was all expense paid. You deserve it."

"But–"

"No buts. I'm paying for it and that's that."

"I can see I'm not going to win here, so thank you, Lara."

"No problem, Hermione," she replied as she handed over some Galleons along with a few Sickles and Knuts to Pauline. "Thank you, Pauline. I'll see you next year."

"Okay, I'll see you then. And good bye, Hermione, it was nice to have met you."

"Goodbye, Pauline, and it was lovely to have met you too."

Lara and Hermione Apparated back to Hermione's room at the large house.

"The party's tomorrow night, so can you think of anything else you need? Let's see you have a costume, mask, shoes…Do you need any makeup?"

"Well, I brought a little, but I may need some new colors to go with my dress."

"I'm going to put my things down, then I'll come back and we can go get some. I'm sure I need some new colors, too. Then we can just get something to eat while we're out."

"Okay." Hermione hung her dress in the closet and sat the shoes and mask on top of her dresser as Lara went next door to sit her things down.

When Lara returned, she and Hermione promptly Apparated to a makeup shop, just down the street from The Masked Marauder. Quite a while later, they emerged from the store carrying bags of cosmetics. They began looking for a place to eat, as neither had eaten since that morning and both were famished. They settled on a quiet little café where they had dinner before once again Apparating to the house with their earlier purchases.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," Lara told Hermione. "When you wake up in the morning, just come on downstairs. Breakfast will be served in the dining room."

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight," Lara yawned.

It wasn't until then that Hermione realized how tired she actually was. She changed and within minutes was asleep. When Hermione awoke the next morning, she pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black T-Shirt with a picture of a house-elf who was running around Hermione's torso. She finally made her way downstairs and to the dining room to see Lara sitting at the table.

"Good morning," Hermione told her brightly.

"Good morning. I assume you slept well."

"You assume correctly. Are we the only ones here?"

"Well, some other people are staying, but all with the exception of two have come down already."

"What about the owner of the house?"

"I believe he had to finish making last minute plans, so he's gone for now. If he doesn't return before we start getting ready, I'll introduce you to him after the unmasking, that is, if you don't meet him at the masquerade."

"Miss Lara!" cried a squeaky little voice. It was Triny, a house-elf who Mugglves had helped free. Hermione had no idea that Triny had found work again so soon.

"Hello, Triny. I wasn't aware you found work so soon. I assume you are receiving the benefits you wanted?"

"Oh, yes ma'am, Miss Lara. Master has been very good to Triny."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Hermione, I think I'm going to go get a few last minute things. Do you need anything?"

"Not that I know of. I think I'll just stay here. I wanted to finish my book anyway."

"I should have known," Lara said with a laugh. "You and your books." She rolled her eyes, earning a laugh from Hermione. "It starts at 6:00 so I'll be sure to be back by 4:00 so we can start getting ready."

"Okay."

"I'll see you later," Lara stated as she left the room.

Hermione quickly finished eating and, true to her word, went to her room and curled up on her bed and began reading. At about 3:30, Hermione finished the book and put it away. She then decided to go ahead and get a bath so that she could start getting ready.

She went into the bathroom between her and Lara's rooms and drew herself a bath. When the claw-footed bathtub was full, she sunk into the warm water and felt all tension leave her body. At 4:00, she stepped out and wrapped her body in a dry bath towel, also wrapping her hair in a towel as she walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. She sat down at the vanity in the corner of her room and pulled out the makeup she had gotten the previous day.

"Hermione," Lara said from her place in the bathroom door, "did I by any chance give you my makeup, too?"

"Actually, yes."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Hermione conjured a chair out of thin air and offered it to Lara.

Lara sat and they did their makeup, chatting all the while. Hermione had on eye shadow that changed from red to gold every time she blinked, which she and Lara both thought would look amazing when she was wearing her mask, as you could see her eyes through it. Other than the eye shadow, Hermione's makeup was rather simple with fairly natural colors. Lara's makeup consisted of light silver eye shadow, natural looking blush, and frosty light pink lipstick.

"Now I'm really intrigued as to what your costume is," Hermione commented to Lara.

"Well, you can just keep wondering. Maybe if you're lucky I'll let you see it before we go down; otherwise you might die of curiosity," Lara laughed.

"Yes, and you wouldn't want to be the cause of my death now would you?" Hermione joked.

"Well, let's get changed and meet back here in a half-an-hour." Hermione agreed and Lara retreated to her room to finish getting ready.

Hermione got her dress out of her wardrobe and laid it on the bed. She then unwrapped the towels from around her body and hair and deposited them in the clothesbasket just inside the bathroom door. Hermione noticed that Lara's door on the other side of the bathroom was closed. "Must be some costume if she wants it to be kept this much of a secret," she thought to herself.

Hermione crossed her room to the dresser containing her clothes and pulled out a shiny gold bra and matching thong. She put them on, turned, and walked to the bed. When she got to the bed she turned the dress over so the back was facing up. The dress was made as if it were actually from the time period of Guinevere, which meant it had numerous buttons running down the back, which Hermione began to unbutton with nimble fingers. Once all of the buttons were undone, Hermione slipped into the dress and began to rebutton it as much as possible.

"Here," Hermione heard a voice she distinguished as Lara's behind her, "move your hair and I'll help you."

Hermione did as she was told and told Lara, "Thank you."

"No problem."

"Does this mean I get to see your costume? When you get done buttoning me up, that is."

"Sure, but keep in mind, I haven't fixed my hair yet, so I'll look better once I do that," she replied as she slipped the last button through its hole. "Okay, I'm done."

"Thank you," Hermione said as she let go of her hair, which had gotten considerably tamer over the years while still retaining some wave and was now down to the middle of her back, and turned around to face Lara.

"It's beautiful," Hermione breathed as she laid eyes on Lara's costume. Lara was wearing a dress that hugged her slim frame down until about where her knees were, where it slightly flared out into a bell. About mid-calf, the front of the dress split and ruffled down so that the front was open, yet the back and sides of her legs were still covered. It was pure white and had glitter all over it, with an intricate pattern of what looked to be a sun made of beads on the bodice. What seemed to be the rays of the sun extended all the way to the bottom of the dress and even wrapped around the back. The straps of the dress were made of a string of the same beads that adorned the bodice and criss-crossed in the back. The neck draped slightly in the front, stopping just above the beaded sun. She had a sparkling white shawl with beaded ends over her arms and pearlescent white heels on her feet.

"Where's your mask?"

"I'm going to put it on after I do my hair, but I decided I would show you first."

"Well, it's gorgeous. Who are you supposed to be? Wait, let me guess." Hermione though for a moment and said, "Astrina Solario, that witch who invented lumos."

"I should have know you would get it on the first try."

"We probably need to do our hair. I don't know how much time we have left."

Lara agreed with her and they went into the bathroom and began casting various charms on their hair. Before their very eyes, Hermione and Lara's hair twisted, curled, and fixed itself.

While Lara's hair was twisted in the back with curls on top of her head, Hermione's was left down but made into loose curls and held out of her face with a red-jeweled clip and a few curled tendrils hanging at the side of her face. They both cast charms on their hair that acted like hairspray without the caked on sticky feeling. Lara looked past Hermione into her bedroom and saw that the Muggle clock she brought with her read 5:35 and told Hermione, "We actually might get there a little early. Now when we get there, I want you to talk to some people, have fun."

"I'll try."

"You'd better. Let me go put my mask on and I'll be right back."

"Okay, I'll go ahead and put mine on, too, then," Hermione said as she walked into her room. After a moment, Lara returned to Hermione's room wearing a mask much like Hermione's, except Lara's was sparkling white and had the same beads from her dress around the edges and the eyes, where it looked like the sun rays. Hermione quickly put her mask on and asked Lara, "Are you ready?"

"Sure am. You?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Well, let's go. It's almost a quarter until six."

The two women walked out of Hermione's room and down to the ballroom. The ballroom already had quite a few people in it in a wide variety of costumes. Everyone from Romeo and Juliet to Batman and Catwoman to even Michael Jackson was in attendance.

"This is where we part ways, _Genera_," Lara told Hermione. "Now you go have some fun. I'll see you tomorrow. _Don't_ be a good girl."

"Okay, _Astrina_, I'll try not to be," Hermione said with a laugh.

Lara left her and went in search of what Hermione was sure was someone to talk to. Hermione just stood awkwardly for a moment, not really sure what to do what to say to some random person.

"First time?" asked a voice from behind her.

Hermione spun around to see a striking resemblance of Cornelius Agrippa speaking to her. "Yes, how did you know?" she asked with a small nervous laugh.

"I know the look, the 'what-the-fuck-how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-survive-in-this-place' kind of look. Two years ago was my first, and I know that's how I felt, but as you can see, I survived and I've come back ever since. That's got to count for something."

Hermione laughed. "Yes, it certainly does."

"Want some tips on how to survive in this place?"

"Sure."

"Go up to random interesting-looking people and just start talking to them, and people of the opposite sex always tend to be more conducive to conversation. Oh, and if you don't want to get drunk, stay away from any drinks in opened containers. Always get an unopened can or bottle and check that the seal is not broken."

"Thanks."

"My pleasure. Well, go get 'em, Genera, was it?"

"Er…yes, it was, Cornelius?"

He slightly inclined his head before walking off leaving Hermione on her own once again. This time, however, she decided to find someone to talk with. She turned around and walked up to a random man she had never seen before and began a conversation. She circulated, oftentimes staying for half-an-hour at a time talking to one or two people.

At about 10:30, Hermione spotted an Adonis across the room, literally. He was dressed as the ancient Greek in traditional clothing, and whether naturally or magically, his body was toned and sculpted as if it were a piece of art, which in a sense it was. Covering the area around his eyes was a simple mask made of the same fabric as that which covered from his waist down to just above his knees. Walking over to him, Hermione thought he truly did look like an Adonis. As she was approaching, the Adonis noticed her coming over and did his own once over of the woman who was approaching him.

"Hi."

"Hello. Having a good time?"

"Of course. So what brings you here, Adonis?"

"Actually, this is my home, so I didn't really have much of a choice, not that I really minded," he told her with a small laugh. "And yourself?"

"Because of my lack of a personal life. Lara made me come, since her husband was unable to."

"So you're the one she was speaking of."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Have you been enjoying your stay here?"

"Very much so." Hermione went on to tell him about her flat and how much different –and better –it was at his home.

They became engrossed in conversation and discovered that they had many things in common. Not only were they both from England, it was also discovered both went to Hogwarts for their schooling. They found they both enjoyed reading mystery novels, playing guitar, and playing around on 'compucers' as Adonis called them, when much to Hermione's embarrassment, Adonis broached the subject of sex.

"Yes, very interesting things those, compu_ters_, did you call them? In fact, the other day, I came upon a quite interesting wed sipe."

"Web site. What made it so interesting?"

"Well, it just Apparated onto the screen, took it all up too. It was filled with people having sex."

Hermione blushed crimson at this. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and asked, "Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, and when I tried to X it out, another came up, then another, all kinds of positions and situations. There was this one that…are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's not that, it's just…"

"Oh. Been awhile huh?"

She paused. "…Nearly three years."

"Wow. Sorry, I just never thought a beautiful woman like you –well, I just figured someone like you would have guys lined up around the block wanting you," he said as he eyed her fairly large breasts appreciatively.

"It's not that. It's just that, well, I work so much I barely have time to eat, much less for sex."

"I could help you with that, you know."

Hermione's brain started screaming at her. 'Whoa! Hold on! Is he saying what I think he is? And why am I considering this? Other than the fact that he is incredibly gorgeous and his voice alone makes me wet. No! It's just this wine talking, only, I'm not so sure…'

"Nevermind," his mind broke through her reverie. "Forget I said mentioned it. I'll leave you alone now if you want," he told her as he turned to walk off.

Hermione reached out a hand to stop him and said, "No, don't leave." He quirked an eyebrow and she continued, "Actually, I was considering your offer. It might actually be nice to just have one night to forget about everything and lose myself to another person…"

"Are you sure? You seem a little apprehensive."

"I'm sure. I think I need this."

"It's nearly midnight. Would you like to wait and see what you're getting yourself into?" he asked with a laugh.

"I may lose my daring by then," she replied with a nervous laugh.

"Well then, this way m' lady." He offered his arm which Hermione took before he led her to a magnificent bedroom. Deep greens and blacks dominated the room as did a larger than king size bed in the middle. Adonis shut the door and locked it before returning to Hermione and placing a mild kiss to her lips. He pulled away and looked into her eyes to gauge her reaction.

Upon seeing her eyes had darkened from a cinnamon brown to a deeper shade due to the lust that was coursing through her body, he leaned in again. After a moment he teased her lips with his tongue, begging entrance. She gave in to his touch, moaning as she opened her mouth slightly to him and allowing his tongue to snake inside her mouth. Hermione put her arms around his neck as they battled for power. Adonis began to move his hands along the sides of her body, starting at her hips and continuing up until he reached her breasts.

Hermione broke their kiss, moaning and titled her head back as he began to caress her breasts through her dress. When she put her head back, he hadn't missed the fact that her neck had become exposed to him. He leaned down and began suckling on her neck, still kneading her breasts and occasionally running his thumb over her straining nipple. Another moan, louder this time, was elicited from her and he gave a smile against the flawless skin of her neck. He set his attentions to one spot thinking of how her skin was no longer flawless and she would have that mark for days.

Adonis pulled back to admire his handiwork and told her in his deep voice, "As lovely as that dress is on you, I think it's time you got more comfortable." He gave her one last kiss before traveling around to her back and with nimble fingers began unbuttoning her dress, kissing her flesh as it was revealed to him.

After divesting her of her dress, Adonis showered her breasts with attention, and soon was preparing to make love to her. Hermione had shut her eyes and was quickly nearing her climax as she heard a clock in the distance strike midnight. She knew if she now opened her eyes, she would see who exactly her lover was, but she was too wrapped up in simply feeling. That is, until she felt the man inside her change. She could feel the man inside her getting thicker and slightly shorter and her hands felt a definite change in the arse that she had them on, getting a bit fuller. Hermione knew the man must have taken a polyjuice of sorts and opened her eyes to see what he indeed looked like. Her eyes met the deep grey of Draco Malfoy's. Hermione screamed out her release calling out Draco's name as she came. Upon hearing his name come out of her mouth, Draco grunted out a soft "Hermione" as he reached his own climax, spilling his seed into her.

Exhausted, Draco fell on top of Hermione, careful not to crush her and lay breathing into her hair until their breathing stabilized. He then pulled out of her and rolled over onto his back beside her. Noticing Hermione had surprisingly already dropped off to sleep, he covered her up before getting under the comforter himself and pressing his body against hers succumbed to his exhaustion.

Hermione woke the next morning to a beam of light falling across the bed and a feeling of cold. She gripped the blankets tighter to her and snuggled deeper into them trying to find warmth. Suddenly she felt a body nuzzle up against her back, putting his head in the crook of her neck, and for a moment was thinking how nice it was until she thought about it and realized someone was in fact in bed with her. She bolted upright holding the blanket to her chest in the process, if only to make her feel more secure. When the cold air hit her back, she realized she was completely nude, and was quite glad she thought to grab the blanket. She turned to see who it was in bed with her and saw none other than Draco Malfoy. Hermione couldn't help but give a small scream of shock, which of course woke up Draco.

"Bloody hell, what's with the screaming?" he asked, sitting up and putting a hand to his head and opening his eyes to see Hermione still looking at him. "What's with the screaming? I don't recall you screaming last night, well, not like this…"

"Last night?"

"Merlin's Beard, Hermione. Don't you remember anything about last night?"

"The last thing I remember is having a little too much to drink and agreeing to –oh shit…We…"Hermione asked, leaving the question hanging.

"Yes, we did." She buried her head in her hands and mumbled something that sounded oddly like 'absofuckinglutely wonderful.'

"Okay, since I can't seem to remember what happened last night, what exactly did happen?"

"I took a special polyjuice made from the hair of Adonis."

"And how did you get Adonis' hair?"

"He was one of my ancestors, and all Malfoys leave behind a bit of hair or something of the sort. It's an odd tradition, but there you have it."

Hermione was looking at Draco thinking of how different he seemed now. Draco noticed that she had a distant look on her face and asked, "What's wrong?"

At hearing the slight concern in his voice, Hermione snapped out of her trance. "Nothing, just thinking." Draco raised an eyebrow as if to say 'what about?' "Why is it that you've been downright decent –dare I say nice – to me? It's unnatural."

"Well, after what we did last night, I think it is only right. Of course, if you want me to be a bastard again, I'm sure I could manage."

"Actually, it's quite nice," she replied with a slight blush.

"You know, since we're being truthful for once, I actually quite fancied you back at school. When I heard you were coming I was determined to have you. I watched you all night. When you agreed, I thought I was hallucinating, but now I know it wasn't some wild dream."

"How could you have known it was me? I had the mask."

"A mask can only cover so much. I spent much of my time watching you without your knowledge. I learned your actions, your voice, even your smell."

"Oh."

"If you want me to go away and never darken your doorstep again, I will, but I think it would be the biggest mistake of your life, an even bigger mistake than when you gave the Weasel your virginity." She blushed furiously while giving him a reproachful look. "I told you, I watched you all the time, I knew what you did, and I could tell what happened when you two came back down from your room that evening. I actually waited in the common room for you under the pretense of studying. Then last night my suspicions that he had been clumsy and uncaring about your needs were confirmed, as I could tell you had not experienced anything that intimate before. Yes, you had sex before, but you never made love to anyone, and that's what we did. We made love. We didn't just have sex or fuck, but we _made love_." She had lowered her eyes to her hand playing with the comforter in her lap. He reached his hand to her face and lifted her chin so she met his gaze. "Hermione," she loved the way her name rolled off his tongue, "do you want me to leave?"

She whispered a soft "no" before he covered her mouth with his, mimicking the previous night's actions. When he pulled away from her she continued, "I must admit, I quite fancied you, too. Merlin knows I thought about you all the time. Even since we graduated, I've thought of you often."

"Oh? Is that so?" Draco raised an eyebrow causing Hermione to blush slightly. "You know, I love it when you blush like that. Makes you look so innocent, then again, maybe the reason I love it is you look like you've just been thoroughly shagged." A furious blush overtook her face. "Especially now," he added with a laugh.

Hermione gave him a playful push before thoughtfully adding, "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh. Not a genuine laugh. I like it, it fits you," she added with a small smile. Her smile faded slightly as she thought for a moment and after a pause asked Draco, "So what now? We've already slept together and we've found we fancy each other, but was this a one time thing?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"No," she answered truthfully in a small voice.

"Me either," he said picking up her hand, which was free now as she had leaned back against the headboard of his bed and dropped her hands to her sides since the blanket was able to stay of its own accord.

Once he entwined his fingers with hers she asked what they were both thinking. "Do you think it will work?"

Draco paused. "We won't know if we never try."

Hermione gave a sigh and resituated her body so that she was leaning against Draco's chest and he had his arms around her, their fingers interlocked.

"Mmm…this is nice," Hermione said closing her eyes and relaxing into him even more.

"Mmm…" he agreed closing his eyes and just enjoying the feel of the woman against him. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Hermione must have moved her head as her wavy hair had moved to one side, partially exposing her neck, which he leaned down and kissed. She had not been expecting that and opened her eyes as she gasped.

"Since you don't remember last night clearly," he said punctuating every few words with a kiss, "how about we remind you?"

"But the others –"

"Screw the others."

"I'd much rather screw you."

When they finally exited Draco's bedroom after him quite thoroughly reminding her of the previous night, then having a repeat performance in the shower, they found everyone else had already been down, but left for home or town.

They walked to the dining room, as they were both famished, and found a note addressed to Hermione, who immediately recognized Lara's writing and quickly read the short note.

Gone out for the day. You weren't in  
your room, so I know you met  
someone last night. Now you and your  
mystery guy can have some time  
together. You have the place to  
yourselves until 7:00. Enjoy yourself!

Lara

P.S. when I get back, I want details.

"Well, I don't think we'll be seeing anyone else for awhile," she told Draco with a small smirk. "It seems they've left us alone for the day."

"And there are many things I can think of doing with that time," he replied as numerous scenarios played themselves out in his head, "but for now, we need to eat. Build our strength up."

The house-elves brought out plates of food, of which they ate their fill. Soon after, they decided to go for a walk around the estate, as Hermione had seen little of it since arriving. As they were walking through the garden, Hermione asked, "How is it all of these flowers are still blooming? I can tell they're summer flowers and it is most assuredly autumn. Perpetual growth charm, I'm guessing?"

"Why do you ask when you already know the answer?" he inquired with a laugh.

She playfully shoved him, but he wasn't ready for it and lost his balance. Before he hit the ground, however, he grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her down with him. Draco landed on his back and Hermione was straddling his waist with their chests flush. She leaned in the small distance and gave him what she intended to be a chaste kiss. Draco, however, had other plans and reached his hand to the back of her head and tangled it in her hair, effectively holding her in a passionate kiss. They pulled apart so they could breathe and Draco moved his hand from her hair to the side of her face where he rubbed his thumb lovingly over her cheek.

She saw the lust in his eyes and got an evil idea. Abruptly she stood and started walking, making Draco groan at the loss of contact. He picked himself off the ground and quickly caught up with Hermione. Leaning close to her ear he said in a whisper, "Tease."

She just gave an innocent smile and replied, "Never."

"Don't worry, your time will come."

"I can hardly wait."

The rest of the tour of the grounds was spent with teasing touches and looks from both parties. They had just walked into the house before Draco had Hermione pinned against the wall kissing her madly. She gave up her game and as he was kissing down her neck, she pulled his head up to look at her.

"Fuck me now."

After several more moments of teasing, Draco complied and soon emptied himself inside her.

"Mmm…that was wonderful," she said smoothing his hair back and kissing his forehead.

After a moment he pulled out of her, causing her to groan at the loss.

Hermione got an evil look on her face and before Draco even had a chance to pull his trousers back on, she suggested, "How about we go upstairs and take a shower?"

"You insatiable woman…no wonder I'm attracted to you." When Lara returned that evening, it was to find Draco and Hermione curled up on the couch, asleep. Lara covered them with a towel she had transfigured into a blanket and said to herself, "I should've known."

The rest of the week passed with Draco and Hermione spending all of their time together, and soon Hermione had to return to Hogsmeade. They met as often as possible, at least once a week, and soon developed a very good relationship, not just based on sex, although they still had a very healthy sex life.

About two months had passed and Draco and Hermione had decided to meet at Malfoy Manor for dinner this week. They had been keeping a light conversation throughout dinner when Draco brought up the fact that he wished he could see Hermione more.

"I wish I could see you more, too."

"I think I know how I can remedy that."

"And just how might that be?"

"Move in with me?" he asked hopefully.

"What?"

"Move in with me."

"But we've only been going out two months. Don't you think that's too fast?"

"We've known each other since we were eleven," he pointed out to her as he took her hands in his. "It's not like we just met. Yes, I know we haven't always been best friends, but that should tell you how much faith I have in us. Please," he said turning his face into a look that told her 'trust me, you wont regret it.'

Hermione sighed. "Okay. Let's go for it." Draco smiled and leaned in to give her a kiss. When they broke apart, Hermione asked, "So when do I move in?"

"How about now? We could just send your things over. I had to help someone move a few years ago and they had quite a handy spell. You could be in within an hour."

"Well then, I guess we should go ahead and get that taken care of."

They Apparated to Hermione's flat and true to Draco's word were finished in under an hour.

"I suppose I need to go tell my landlady. I'll meet you back at the Manor in a bit." Draco Apparated back to the Manor while Hermione went to the landlady and filled her in. The landlady gave Hermione her final bill and Hermione Apparated to the Manor and went to find Draco. She headed back to the dining room to check there first and on the way saw many of her things in their respective places, as if they had been there all along. Upon seeing Draco sitting at the table waiting for her, she walked in and gave him a quick kiss before sitting down and informing him, "All taken care of."

"Good."

Hermione yawned. "I'm tired. Do you mind if I head off to bed?"

"Sure. You know where the room is. I'll be up in a bit." She raised herself from her seat and gave Draco a quick goodnight kiss before heading off to bed. Draco sat with his thoughts a moment longer before rising and following her. Within five minutes of Hermione getting into bed, Draco crawled in and pressed himself against her and nuzzling his head in her neck was very soon asleep.

Over the next few weeks, Draco noticed Hermione was starting to act oddly and sometimes got nauseous when she smelled food and, as odd as it may have sounded to anyone else, he could swear her breasts had gotten somewhat larger, of course he wasn't about to complain, he just found it quite odd.

He wasn't dense, far from it; he had been second only to Hermione in his class at Hogwarts. Draco knew something was wrong; he just had to figure out what it was. He began thinking of what illnesses had symptoms such as the ones Hermione had been demonstrating. He knew little of Muggle sickness so he began sorting through various wizarding illnesses. None came to mind that had the same symptoms. Maybe a jinx or curse was the cause. Again, however, none came to mind. Draco wracked his brain for another answer to his question. After several moments of contemplation, Draco had another thought come to mind, but he was cautious to accept it. Could Hermione be pregnant?

"Hermione, love, can I ask you something?" Draco asked his live-in girlfriend once he found her in their library. She closed the dusty volume she was currently looking through and looked up at him. "You just did but you can ask another."

"Are you pregnant?"

"I was waiting for tonight," she answered so softly that he almost didn't catch it.

"Pardon?"

"I was waiting for tonight to tell you. I just found out."

"What? We're going to have a baby?" he asked, the excitement in his voice growing evident.

"Yes," she replied, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Draco was wrapped up in his emotions and picked up Hermione, spinning her around slightly before giving her a passionate kiss and looking deep into her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too, but you might want to put me down. Don't want to hurt the baby."

He sat her down and gave her another quick kiss. "As you wish."

"Would you like to know the sex? I found out while I was at the healer's office."

"Sure."

"We're having a boy. Due in mid-July."

Draco leaned down to her and gave her a kiss before pulling away and telling her again, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

They began talking and decided that since the only people they had to tell the good news to was their friends, as Mr. And Mrs. Granger and Narcissa were all killed during the war and Lucius was currently sharing a room with the Longbottom's, they would invite them over the following Friday under the pretense that they had not seen each other in quite a while and they were having a nice dinner to catch up. Before they went up to bed Draco and Hermione sent some invitations out for a dinner on Friday.

Friday came and went with the dinner going much better than either expected, for which they were thankful. Even Harry and Ron had been happy for Hermione and surprisingly enough Draco.

Another couple of months passed fairly uneventfully until the day Ginny and Hermione's other friends planned to have her baby shower. Luckily for them, Hermione had a healer's appointment that morning, and after conspiring with Draco, they were given full run of the Manor's den in which to throw her baby shower, which they would prepare while she was at the healer's office.

That Saturday morning dawned clear and bright and Hermione set out for the healer's. She had to Apparate to a little place down the street and walk a bit as the office itself had anti-Apparating wards on it. On her way to the office, she noticed a man running her direction and wildly swinging something that looked oddly like a purse. Try as she might, Hermione was not able to keep from being hit and was struck dead on in the stomach when he ran by, causing her to double over in pain. Eventually she made it to the office and was soon taken back to see her healer.

"How have you been, Hermione?"

"Tired."

The healer asked many more questions to see if everything was going okay in Hermione's pregnancy but became concerned when Hermione told her of the incident on her way to the office earlier. Hermione was told to lie down on an infirmary bed in the corner of the office and the healer said a complex spell while waving her wand over Hermione's stomach.

"Just another moment and we'll see if I am correct in my thinking." A blue mist appeared over Hermione's stomach. "Hermione…"

Hermione Apparated back to the Manor and began looking for Draco. She planned to search the rooms beginning with the first floor and working upstairs if she didn't find him, but when she came to the den, she was greeted with an overwhelming sight.

"Surprise!"

She took in the baby shower, decorations, people, everything, before her eyes began tearing. Ginny came up to her and gave her a hug asking what was wrong. After much coaxing Hermione managed to say, "I…I –I ha –I had…"

"Yes, what did you have?" Hermione sobbed something into Ginny's shoulder where her head now rested. "What was that?"

"A miscarriage! I had a miscarriage, damnit!"

Ginny's mouth dropped in shock just before Hermione buried her face in Ginny's robe-clad shoulder again. She never would have guessed. She couldn't even tell a difference in Hermione's appearance because of the robes, for she knew the healer must have used a spell to remove the fetus since it was beginning to develop and all good healers used a cosmetic charm to alter a woman's appearance if her body did not change back to its pre-pregnancy appearance of its own accord. Everyone else left fairly quickly at seeing Hermione so upset and soon Hermione's tears had subsided somewhat.

"Do you want me to help you find Draco?" Hermione nodded and Ginny said, "Okay, let's go find Draco."

Hermione nodded her consent and the two women set off to find Draco. They found him in his second floor office looking through a drawer in his desk. Ginny gave Hermione a reassuring hug before leaving her to tell Draco.

"Draco?" He slammed the drawer he had been looking through, nearly crushing the fingers on his left hand in the process when he heard Hermione.

"Hermione, I didn't think you'd be home so soon, or at least, not up here. You had to have seen what was going on downstairs." Draco had by this time walked out from behind his desk and was nearly in front of Hermione when she launched herself into his arms and began sobbing. Draco stood still for a moment, as he was not expecting her to jump on him and start crying. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Shh…what wrong, love? You can tell me."

"I…I mi- …I miscarried."

"Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry," he said in a truly sympathetic voice as he hugged her closer to him, if only to let her know that he was there for her. They stayed like that, Draco placing a kiss to the top of her head every once in a while, until Hermione's tears finally came to a stop.

"Are you okay, love?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I love you, you know."

"I know, and I love you, too."

"Actually, I was going to ask you something before you gave me your big news."

"Hmm?" Hermione asked from her place on Draco's chest.

She felt him move his left arm into a pocket in his robes and pull something out.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

This was written in response to fic request number 82. 

82. Name/Pen Name: Nikki

Your LJ Username:

E-mail: 

Are you over seventeen?: Yes

Rating(s) of the fic you want: R to NC-17

Rating(s) you're willing to write: PG-13 to NC-17

3 - 5 Things you want your gift to include:

a. Post Hogwarts

b. Smut (but tasteful)

c. Draco thinks Hermione is pregnant

d. A disasterous babyshower

e. A quirky, delightful ending

What you don't want your gift to include: Overreacting!Ron, slash, character death

Any Squicks/Things You Won't Feel Comfortable Writing: Character death and dark fics

Also I would just like to say thank you to LeLe for help with the summary and coming up with the title. Since my beta backed out at the last minute due to communication errors, I unfortunately take credit for all mistakes present. This was my first (published) NC17 story (toned down for FFN -NC17 version available on AFF under the pen name DceptiveNocence), so I hope it was okay, and I hope everyone (especially you Nikki!) enjoyed this. I'm really sorry for the delay, but RL was wanting to be a bitch. Let me know how you liked it, feedback is like crack, you can never get enough…


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